


Overexposed

by akire_yta



Series: prompt ficlets [141]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-17 23:05:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4684646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>drst prompt!</p><p>The first time he goes to a crowded, public place with Thea and tries to hide a panic attack because there are people and noise and he doesn’t know how to exist in a crowd without something to focus on (i.e. a target).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Overexposed

Thea is still talking, bubbling away a mile a minute, but it’s all he can do to make our her voice in the babble of people and things and _noise_ in this place.

He wanted to check himself over, find a dark corner and hide in it til he stopped the bleeding. He must be bleeding; the world felt like it was spinning, like he’d taken too many blows to the head too quickly to process.

But he was with Thea, and she didn’t sound scared. Oliver focused on the sound of her voice, and tried to just breathe.

“Ollie?”

His name, her voice, it’s enough to cut through the static. He tries to speak, but the words stick in his throat, choking him.

“Ollie!” Hands on him, patting, and he flinches back, too fast, too violent. The spinning intensifies, and for a second, Oliver feels his stomach clench. Then a hand finds his, small, soft, manicured. Delicate.

He knows that perfume. He opens his eyes - when had he closed them - and Thea swims in and out of focus. She swears, softly, and Oliver laughs, though that too almost chokes him.

They’re moving - Thea’s dragging him somewhere. Sun and shade dapple on his skin, and for a second, the city street kaleidoscopes in and out with the jungle on the island. 

Oliver reaches for a quiver that isn’t there. “No, Ollie, this way, here.” Her hands on his shoulders, pushing him down to sit on a low brick wall.

When did she get so tall? 

Her hands are still on shoulder, but there’s no panic in having fingers within striking distance of his neck. Her perfume is still strong in his nose, and she’s still saying his name, over and over again.

He focuses on that until his heartbeat eases. His ribs ache, and he leans forward, just for a moment, and lets his aching head rest on her skinny, narrow shoulder.

Just for a moment, until the world stops being so loud. 

She wrapped her arms around him, as far as they would go, and held him up until he was ready again.


End file.
